What's next

U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin on Friday indefinitely postponed a July 17 evidentiary pretrial hearing in the Brian Wells case. He agreed with the defense that defendant Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, recently diagnosed with cancer, needs more time to address her health. Her trial could start in federal court in Erie as early as Aug. 30.Diehl-Armstrong, who is at the Erie County Prison, is accused of the felonies of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime of violence. If convicted, she would face a maximum sentence of life.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is lead to court for her preliminary hearing at the Erie County Courthouse on Tuesday, January 20, 2004. Diehl was charged with the murder of James Roden. Roden's body was discovered in a freezer in the home of William Rothstein.ERIE TIMES-NEWS

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is threatening to stay away from her trial in the Brian Wells "pizza bomber" case, now that a federal judge has rejected her request to fire her lawyer.

She angrily responded in court on Friday that she would rather be prosecuted "in absentia."

"That is a distinct possibility, that I would boycott it," she said in an interview later.

The trial would go on without her. U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin, who has calmly reacted to Diehl-Armstrong's courtroom outbursts, warned her to be quiet on Friday, but also said the choice to attend her prosecution is hers.

"I can't force you to come to this trial," he said.

McLaughlin said insufficient evidence exists to justify the dismissal of her new court-appointed lawyer, Douglas Sughrue, of Pittsburgh. McLaughlin told her she would have to represent herself before he lets her get new counsel.

Though Diehl-Armstrong is indigent and constitutionally entitled to a lawyer, McLaughlin said, she is not entitled to a lawyer of her choosing.

McLaughlin gave that same warning to Diehl-Armstrong in September, when he allowed her to fire her first lawyer, Thomas Patton, an assistant federal public defender, and he appointed Sughrue.

"I don't want to represent myself because I am ill right now," said Diehl-Armstrong, diagnosed with cancer in April, said on Friday.

McLaughlin issued two rulings that took into account Diehl-Armstrong's health.

He ordered the Regional Cancer Center to turn over Diehl-Armstrong's medical records to Sughrue so he can evaluate the status of the cancer. Diehl-Armstrong had refused to let the center release the records.

McLaughlin also indefinitely postponed a July 17 pretrial hearing in the Wells case. Diehl-Armstrong has a medical appointment that day, Sughrue said, and she needs more time to deal with the cancer.

Sughrue said he might later ask McLaughlin, depending on Diehl-Armstrong's prognosis, to postpone the trial, which could start in federal court in Erie as early as Aug. 30.

Diehl-Armstrong, 61, who has also been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, was indicted July 2007. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Erie is accusing her of being part of the plot that ended in the death of Wells, a 46-year-old pizza deliveryman killed when a bomb locked to his neck exploded after he robbed a bank in Summit Township in August 2003. She has said she was framed.

McLaughlin held Friday's hearing after Diehl-Armstrong wrote him three letters complaining about Sughrue. She said he was rude and ineffective and did not like the way he dressed.

McLaughlin met in chambers separately with Diehl-Armstrong and Sughrue, and then rejected Diehl-Armstrong's request for new counsel. He faulted her and said Sughrue has worked hard.

"The pattern which emerges," McLaughlin said, "is one where the defendant is never satisfied with counsel, whomever it might be, because she tends to view herself as smarter and more informed than anyone else."